OLD-TIMERS DAY WITH THE YANKEES
Why McCarthy Quit Coaching Lines
"It was Old-Timers Day at Yankee Stadium. Ed Barrow was there and Joe McCarthy. And Joe Dugan and Whitey Witt and Home Run Baker. Roger Peckinpaugh and Wally Pipp and Benny Bengough. Joe Sewell and Walter Brown and Wally Schang. Red Ruffing and Charlie Keller and Lyn Lary. Marius Russo and Bob Shawkey and Earle Combs and Bud Metheny. And Vernon (Lefty) Gomez.
In the New York clubhouse before the game started, Gomez dominated the gathering. Being Gomez, he simply couldn't help it. He was the one the others were listening to, wherever he happened to be. He didn't fail them, either.
He said to Ed Barrow:
'Remember when you thought I had to put on weight to be a big league pitcher and sent me to a milk farm?'
'I do,' Ed said.
'You said to me: 'Put on twenty pounds and you'll make even the older fans forget Jack Chesbro?'
'I said: 'If I put on twenty pounds they'll forget Gomez.'
'And what happened? I put on twenty and even you forgot me.'
'I forgot you?' Barrow said.
'Well, not exactly,' Gomez said. 'But you sent me to St. Paul.'
There was the year that Lou Gehrig would have led the league in home runs but he missed because Lary, on second base when Lou blew one into the stands with two out, thought the ball had been caught and, having reached third base, headed for the dugout to get a drink of water before taking his position at shortstop. And Gehrig, not having noticed this, rounded third and continued on to the plate- and was called out for having passed Lary on the base line.
'McCarthy was coaching at third base,' Lefty said, recalling the episode.
Just then McCarthy walked into the room. Raising his voice, Lefty said:
'Joe came back to the dugout, steaming.
' 'Of all the dumb ----!' he said. 'Twenty of you sitting on the bench and not one of you had brains enough to yell at Lary that the ball was in the stands.'
'And Ruffing said: 'What was the matter with you, Joe? You were closer to him than anyone else.'
'That,' Lefty said, 'was the last time Joe ever coached at third base- or any other base.'
Then he turned to Joe and said:
'A little while ago, somebody said to me:
' 'You know Joe McCarthy, don't you?'
'And I said: 'Know him? Ruffing and I ---- near pitched him into the Hall of Fame.' '
Benny Bengough, one of the great Yankee catchers, came in and Lefty said: 'You and that Lazzeri.'
'Me and Lazzeri? What about us?'
'The first time Lazzeri saw me,' Lefty said, 'he looked me over and he said:
' 'You were in the Coast League last year, weren't you?'
' 'I said, 'Yes. What about it?'
'And he said: 'That's where you will be next year.' '
He turned to the others.
'And this Bengough!' he said. 'The first time I ever was in a ball game, Shawkey called me in to relieve. Bengough is down like this, giving me a sign. I can't see it, but I throw him a fast ball. He's looking for a curve and the ball goes over his head, misses the umpire, fortunately, and hits the grandstand and everybody runs. When Bengough recovers the ball there isn't anything he can do but walk out to the box and hand it to me and as he does he says:
' 'Take it easy, kid. Don't be nervous. Pitching up here is just like pitching in the minors except that up here the catcher generally knows what's coming.' '
Yogi Berra, current Yankee catcher, came in and Gomez said to him:
'Too bad about you.'
'What's the matter with me?' Yogi asked.
'I've often wondered,' Lefty said. 'But that's beside the point. I was just thinking you were born too late. I could have made a great catcher out of you just by throwing my fast ball past the hitters.'
It was a nostalgic touch. That was the way it used to be in the clubhouse when Lefty was pitching for the Yankees. Never a solemn moment when the guy was around, even when a pennant race ... or a World Series ... was tight and he was pitching. There was the time when, in a clutch game, he had one out and two on and a tough hitter at the plate and he walked in and beckoned to Bill Dickey. Bill, naturally, thought he wanted to talk to him about the hitter and walked out to him.
'Have you got any bird dog puppies to sell?' Lefty asked.
'What's the matter with you?' Bill asked. 'Have you lost your mind?'
'No,' Lefty said. 'Seriously, a friend of mine asked me last night if I knew where he could buy a couple of bird dog puppies and I said I thought you might have some and I just happened to think of it and ... '
The guy was a great pitcher. He had to be, with the stuff he had and the temperament and the sheer guts.
Nostalgic? So was the sight of Barrow and McCarthy in the Stadium. Not in the clubhouse. Not even on this occasion, arranged as a salute to McCarthy, for when McCarthy ... and before him, Shawkey and Miller Huggins ... were managing the Yankees, Barrow, the general manager, never went into the clubhouse. That was the manager's precinct, he felt.
But now, this day, there were Ed and Joe together again in the Stadium and I was glad I was there to see them because, you see, I remember the time ... "
-Frank Graham, condensed from the New York-Journal American (Baseball Digest, November 1951)
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